Past You and Me
by Draquan
Summary: SakuXNaru pain and mourning are the same thing, shes in pain and hes in mourning. Maybe holding each other for awhile is enought to make life worth something...maybe


Past You and Me

Past You and Me

The sun is setting, it does this everyday and every night the moon fills its absence in the dark sky. Everyday people rise to struggle onwards; some fight, some work and some just stop and leave us. These people are put in boxes at the end of they're last days and left to the ground, slowly decomposing into carbon, from which something else grows upwards. Life works in cycles, constant never ending cycles that are infinite in possibilities yet the same at the end of the day. Sun to moon, night to day, waking to sleeping, and living to death. Most people go through they're entire existences adhering to the principles of these cycles, running themselves down for jobs that usually hold no meaning or self-worth. But every now and then something stops, a moment transcends that steps outside of these cycles, and usual these breaks from normality, from daily routine, from social structure and regimented demands is called… well usually its called love.

The mission was over; time for rest and relaxation in sweet home and konohagakure had never looked so beautiful in the setting sun. The twilight is coming through, creeping in with every diminishing ray of sunlight. Naruto stood on the veranda, the beer in his hand numbing the fingers. He lay on one of the two sun chairs that stood on the small tiled veranda out looking the konohagakure city skyline. Beer cans lay about him, along with cups and used cigarettes, all evidence of the party that had been raging here just half an hour before. He smiles faintly as if recalling an old joke or happy memory as his eyelids grew heavy. He's aware of the light footsteps of a girl walking towards him onto the veranda, but frankly he couldn't care less for pulling women tonight, he's knackered. A five week mission will do that to you. The body lies down on the chair next to him and still his eyes remain set upon the horizon, blurring a little at the edges as the alcohol induced drowsiness makes the weight of his eyelashes feel like medicine balls. Hes drawn back out from the sleep by a voice he recognizes and an ever familiar fluttering in his heart that comes with it.

'You can't sleep here Naruto' Sakura says in that mature voice she uses for drunken people and terminally ill patients.

'I know Sakura, but everyone needs a little time out from thinking and right now, the scenes so beautiful I don't even need words anymore' he replies as if in a dreamlike state, distant and haggard

'Everyone else has gone home, even Sasuke' Sakura says looking out herself at the horizon for the first time and stopping to catch her breath

'I know, I can tell by the fact that Ino's multiple orgasms aren't being broadcast through the whole house' he replies

'She was a bit much tonight wasn't she, the way she clung to those Rain guys. Im a little worried about her to be honest Naruto' she said somberly still looking out over the scene

'Don't be, everyone deals with death differently Sakura. This is her way of dealing with Chouji' he answers, voice more distant as if picking up old memories in his mind that just wont stay together, struggling with a problem that was to hard to express in words.

Theres a moment of silence, Sakura breaths in hesitantly as if the air offers an answer for whether she should or shouldn't ask the question that's been on her and everyone elses mind for the past year. Naruto can sense this but he doesn't avoid it like he would by walking away, his method of dealing with everyone else. For the first time in a whole year he's going to let someone get close to him, to go to that place in his hear that used to be so open for everyone to find solace. And the scary thing is he doesn't even know why.

'Your not over Hinata and what happened are you' she says slowly, voice almost breaking as it seeks that singular respectful tone that would be appropriate.

It takes a minute before he answers, and its in the second most sorrowful voice hes ever used. The first was whispered to a corpse in a coffin a year ago, a silent promise to never let go.

'I think its stupid to think someone has to get over somebody, why cant even the sad endings stay in our hearts' he pauses for a second as he becomes aware of sakuras hand creeping its way into his, then he starts again 'why cant I keep all my thoughts of her with, somebody should remember her. Something that beautiful shouldn't just be forgotten'

He stops for a second just to breath, its his way of fighting the tears back. Then after a moment he turns back to her with a smile on his face. A smile that reveals nothing, an obviously fake smile.

'Hows things with you and Sasuke then' he says starting a new subject 'I heard he proposed'

'Yeah, we are getting married on the 15th of april' she says smiling that fake smile back at him. She doesn't want him to know about Sasuke's affairs with most of her friends, the way he sometimes hurts her for pleasure when they get intimate. He hides his pain, she hides her torture and embarrassment.

But somehow she cant hide it all, and her feelings leak through one way. Naruto looks down to see her fingers are locked around his, gripping him tightly. And then that moment happens, the break from the melancholy of daily life explodes before the two. Naruto leans in and kisses the pink haired girl, touching her soft lips and tasting the faded touches of her lipstick. His mask is gone now, and his feelings find an outlet for escape somewhere outside of his dark room alone, in tears. And she kisses him back, feverously at first then more gentle, feeling the yearning for passion fueled by more than lust, begging for love. He cant stop now, his defense is gone and so is hers, so they continue. The two spend that one beautiful night together, finding in each others bodys the love that is hidden from most of us that transcends all other things. And it is the most beautiful thing you will ever see.

I as the Narrator would love to say that this tale has a happy ending, that they stayed together and that love conquered all obstacles. Sadly it doesn't. Naruto left in the morning and the two never spoke of what happened ever again. Sakura married a man she didn't love and lived another 58 years in a marriage built on deceptions and cover storys to sordid affairs. She watched the man she did love walk out of her life in a coffin, another fallen name in a hidden war, another plaque on a memorial wall that holds no meaning to the significance of the life it represents. Yes it isn't the best ending and im sorry for that with all my heart, but there is some resolution to be found in a letter that was left at Haruno Sakura's address by a medical officer who had served the dying Naruto on the frontlines. It read these words-

'Dear Sakura,

Ive left you now and I know that there will never be another chance to hold you, but I find comfort in something I desperately believe in, Sakura. It doesn't matter that I only showed my love for you on one night, what really matters is that it will always be there. And what I feel will last on forever past both of us until I can see you again once more.

Naruto Uzumaki'

I personally believe that this sentiment is possibly the only thing I ever need learn to live a life like that man, to live a life to the full. A testament to this beautiful existence is the way the letter was held onto and cherished by the pink haired woman inside a small jewelry box long after the hair had gone grey and the woman became an old lady. In her arms as they lowered her into the ground was clutched that same letter and it would make the journey back with her to him, because all things, even love runs in cycles.


End file.
